Saturday, June 27, 2009

The final public hearing for plans to develop Ridgewood Reservoir has been scheduled for June 30 at Oak Ridge in Forest Park.

The Parks Department will present three development plans: preserving the site as a natural habitat; filling in the reservoir basins and replacing them with baseball and soccer fields; and a hybrid plan in which only one of three basins, the largest one, would be converted into a recreational sporting area.

The plans have been called into question in recent weeks after Parks officials cut funding for the project from $48.8 million to $19.8 million.

“If the reduction in funding is not restored or supplemented by another funding source, a new phasing strategy will be implemented,” Parks officials said in a statement.

Plans to raze the reservoir site and replace it with ballfields have sparked an ongoing battle between the city and preservationists.

Deactivated in 1989, the site has become a natural haven for plants, turtles, fish, frogs and more than 137 bird species — including eight rare species on the National Audubon Society’s “Watch List.”